The present invention relates to hospital beds and, more particularly, to a sling and attendant support structure which can be used to provide benefits to the patient during transport and/or subsequent bed confinement.
The typical hospital bed has remained virtually unchanged for years except for the replacement of hand cranks with electric motors for adjustment purposes. As shown in FIGS. 1-4, a hospital bed 10 has a headboard 12 and a footboard 14 connected by side rails 16. There is a support platform 18 having a mattress 20 thereon. As shown in FIG. 3, the support platform 18 can be raised and lowered in a horizontal position by a power mechanism (not shown) driving the roller-ended members 22. The power mechanism is controlled by a hand-held controller 24 which can be operated by a patient in the bed 10 or by members of the hospital staff. Removable safety rails (shown ghosted as 26) can be attached to the brackets 28 to prevent a patient from falling or rolling out of the bed. As shown in FIG. 4, the support platform 18 can be raised and lowered on the ends individually by the power mechanism driving one of the roller-ended members 22 so as to permit, for example, sitting up of the patient supported by the mattress 20.
As anyone who has spent any time in a hospital well knows, prior art hospital beds such as that described above are less than ideal for long term occupancy, as in the case of bed-ridden patients. Skin ulcer or "bed sores" are a common problem as the patient's body is supported on point of projection such as hip bones, spine, shoulder blades, etc. This is particularly true in terminal cases where there is much loss of body weight. Air cushions, sheep skins, and the like, are commonly employed in an effort to eliminated this common problem. Moreover, patients in a weakened condition are unable to change heir position on the surface of the bed without assistance. If there is not constant attention by the hospital staff in, this regard, the problem in magnified.
The typical hospital bed has numerous other problems as well, even for the "casual" user. It has a hard mattress and is uncomfortable. Bathing for patients who cannot leave the bed is a joke at best. Also, the typical hospital bed does nothing in the way of assisting the hospital staff in "turning" patients, who may be overweight and unable to assist in their own turning. Most hospitals have rules against staff members attempting to turn patients on their own because of the danger of back injury to the staff member in such a process. Due to lack of available staff, haste, or numerous other reasons, this rule is often ignored--with attendant injury to staff members. In situations of "home care" the typical hospital bed (which can be rented for home use when needed) is unsuitable, at best, in all but the most trivial circumstances. Usually, the caretaker(s) are unskilled and/or physically unsuitable for dealing with a helpless patient when it comes to simple things like turning the patient or the use of a bedpan. The bed itself offers no way that the patient can use a bedpan without inflicting pressure therefrom on already tender areas of the posterior regions of the body.
Not only that, the typical patient picked up from a "home" environment, or the like, with, for example, a heart attack, is moved from one type of transport and support to another in the process--at a time when they least want to be so moved. The ambulance crew moves the patient from a bed to a ambulance stretcher having a collapsible wheeled support. If there is a narrow turning hallway or stairs involved at the pickup site, the stretcher may not fit through requiring hand movement and subsequent transfer to the stretcher at a removed location. At the hospital, the patient is transferred from the ambulance stretcher to a hospital gurney and from there, ultimately, to a hospital bed with, perhaps, an intermediate stop on an X-ray table.
Moreover, a prior art hospital bed does nothing to comfort gravely ill patients. It provides merely a cold, impersonal environment. And, prior art hospital beds do nothing to provide for a patient's feeling of self sufficiency. That is, the patient often needs help merely to change position giving that patient a feeling of loss and dependency when it would be more beneficial to provide them with a feeling of self sufficiency--which would aid in the healing process. This is particularly true of elderly and infirm patients in nursing homes and the like. Being able to attend to one's basic needs imparts a feeling of self worth which is important to good health and mental well being.
In today's environment of highly contagious and deadly diseases such as AIDS, for which there is no cure, the modern hospital bed does nothing with respect to providing a sanitary, non-absorbant environment having patent contact materials which are easily and economically disposable.
Wherefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for use in conjunction with prior art hospital beds which will provide a more comfortable environment for a patient therein.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system for use in conjunction with prior art hospital beds which will permit patients therein to provide additional services of self-help to themselves.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system for use in conjunction with prior art hospital beds which can provide patients therein with a comforting environment, if necessary including tactile stimulation, rocking or vertibrilar stimulation, heartbeat vibration stimulation, and privacy sidewalls.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system for use in conjunction with prior art hospital beds which can provide a single surface of support for a patient from the home bed through the hospital bed wherein there is a reduction of trauma caused by hard surfaces and the elimination of trauma caused by road vibrations and plane turbulance and which can be maneuvered in areas of restricted access such as turning corners, and the like.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system for use in conjunction with prior art hospital beds which can provide assistance to hospital staff members in turning patients therein.
It is also an additional object of the present invention to provide a system for use in conjunction with prior art hospital beds which can provide a convenient and sanitary method of bathing patients therein, aiding the unskilled and/or physically unsuited caretaker, or the patient himself, in patient turning, and using of a bedpan in a manner which is more easily accomplished and provides for non-pressure on the patient's posterior regions during use thereof.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system for use in conjunction with prior art hospital beds which can provide an improved patient environment providing turning ease, multiple positioning, air circulation and foot and head elevation for blood distribution particularly useful in the preventing bed sores or ulcers.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a system for use in conjunction with prior art hospital beds providing a sanitary, non-absorbant environment employing patent contact materials which are easily and economically disposable for use with patients having highly contagious and deadly afflictions, such as AIDS, for which there is presently no cure.
Other objects and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the description which follows hereinafter when taken in conjunction with the drawing figures which accompany it.